Dayton Dragons manager Delino DeShields couldn’t imagine his coaching career taking a different path. He spent two seasons at the rookie level in Billings, in 2009 as hitting coach and in 2010 as manager, before taking the reins of the Dragons for the last two seasons.

There have been ups and downs on the field — a playoff appearance last season and a last-place finish in the Midwest League’s Eastern Division this year — but it’s been a priceless experience for DeShields.

“It’s been a blast,” DeShields said last week during the Dragons’ last homestand. “The organization, the fans, everything is top notch, especially at this level. It doesn’t get much better than this.”

The Dragons, 60-78 this season after beating host West Michigan 7-3 in Monday’s season finale, discovered it’s not always an advantage playing in front of sold-out crowds every night in Dayton.

“Teams get up for us,” DeShields said. “That’s what a lot of kids don’t realize when they come here. Teams come into this environment and get up for us every game.”

DeShields doesn’t want to speculate on where he’ll coach next season. He said returning to Dayton would be a last option because he hopes to move up.

“Players and coaches, we’re all trying to get to the next level,” he said. “I feel I’ve done enough here at A ball. My desire is to at least get to Double-A, where I can start to be taken seriously, I guess you could say, as a managerial guy.

“They say experience is a prerequisite, but they shot that out of the water this year, when they hired two guys in the big leagues who had no managerial experience at all. At the end of the day, being here is going to be a benefit to me. I couldn’t imagine starting at a higher level right off the bat. That would be tough. You’ve got to make your mistakes just like the players do.”

The Dragons made their share of mistakes this year, but they also had some individual success stories. Numerous players made the jump to Bakersfield and had success there.

Steve Selsky, one of the Dragons’ top players in the first half, was hitting .348 heading into Monday’s regular-season finale. Ryan Wright, Dayton’s lone Midwest League All-Star, hit .271 with the Blaze. Theo Bowe, who left for Bakersfield early in the season, hit .314.

Tanner Robles (5-5, 4.45 ERA in Dayton) improved his numbers in Bakersfield (3-3, 2.50 ERA in 7 starts).

Kyle Waldrop (.284), Juan Silva (.272) and Yorman Rodriguez (.271) were among the top hitters in Dayton, and DeShields said Juan Perez (.253 with 9 home runs, second most on the team) was one of the most improved players and Joe Terry (.255) one of the biggest surprises.

“There’s been a lot of growth this summer,” DeShields said. “I’m not talking about stats. I’m talking about growth. There’s a couple who have a legitimate shot (of playing in the big leagues). Time will always let you know. You’ve just got to wait and see. These guys are not who they’re going to be. They’re still evolving.”

On the mound, James Allen (8-4, 3.72 ERA), Robert Stephenson (2-4, 4.19 ERA) and Radhames Quezada (5-9, 3.35 ERA) were among the pitchers who impressed pitching coach Tom Browning the most.

Allen was promoted to Triple-A Louisville just before the Dragons left for their final road trip. It was a nice reward for a pitcher on his way up.

“He emerged as a pretty good starter,” Browning said. “He started the season as a bullpen guy, but it didn’t take long to see he was a starter waiting to happen. He’s only going to get stronger. The fact that he had never started before means there’s a whole lot left in that arm.”